SANAA — Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, in power since 1978, vowed Monday not to quit under pressure from the street, as MPs joined thousands of protesters in Sanaa calling for his departure.

In the country’s south, police shot dead a protester in the regional capital Aden, bringing to 12 the number of people killed in protests that have raged there since February 16, according to an AFP tally based on reports by medics. Dozens have been wounded.

Anti-regime protests also spread to the north of the country, with tens of thousands of Shiite Huthi rebels demonstrating Monday in Saada to demand the ouster of Saleh, a local tribal leader said.

Saada is the stronghold of the rebels, who from 2004 fought six wars with Saleh’s government before signing a peace treaty in 2010.

“If they want me to quit, I will only leave through the ballot box,” Saleh told a news conference as the protesters, including opposition MPs, gathered outside Sanaa University.